We wonder who plays the drunken cop in Aditya Bhattacharya’s remake of Raakh

Aditya Bhattacharya is ready to remake his own cult classic Raakh as A Momentary Lapse Of Reason with Rana Daggubati playing Aamir Khan’s role. But what’s got everyone talking is his silence over the actor who will step into Pankaj Kapur’s shoes in the new version. In Raakh, Aamir played ahero hell bent on revenge after his girlfriend is gangraped. His mentor in this endeavour is a drunken cop, portrayed brilliantly by Pankaj. But who will play the character in AMLOR?

It has to be someone comfortable with English, as that’s the primary language of the film, and someone ready to push his limits as an actor, since his performance will inevitably be compared to Pankaj’s superb portrayal. The man will have to match up physically to Rana’s imposing build. There are few B-towners who fulfill all these requirements – which we as audience members have – and we can only guess who has agreed to do the film. It’s obvious someone has, no? The film is ready to go on the floors with a schedule in Los Angeles, USA, and that’s not possible without the parallel lead. However, everyone involved, including Rana, is keeping the identity of that second actor a secret.

Rana has been quoted as saying that AMLOR is not a mere remake of Raakh; Aditya has completely “revamped and reinvented” the film. Surely that doesn’t mean he has done away with the cop character? We hope not!

The Department actor bags Aditya Bhattacharya’s English film based on Aamir Khan’s Raakh

South hottie Rana Daggubati, whose Telugu film Naa Ishtam released last Friday, is on a roll. Not only is he starring in Ram Gopal Varma’s Department, but he has also landed a role in Aditya Bhattacharya’s English film, titled A Momentary Lapse of Reason. He will play a young Indian businessman in post-recession Los Angeles who takes on the city’s ruling crime family, says a press statement. The film is based on Bhattacharya’s debut feature film, the Aamir Khan-starrer Raakh(1988).

Rana said, “It is a fantastic opportunity for a young actor like me to be a part of Aditya’s international project.” Bhattacharya stated, “Rana perfectly fits the role as the scion of a wealthy Hyderabad industrialist with real-estate ambitions in Los Angeles, who gets brutally sucked into that city’s underbelly, setting off a chain of events that sucks him into a vortex of violence till he finds an unlikely ally and mentor in an over-the-hill LA cop and the game changes….”

The film is produced by Asif Noor, Bhattacharya and Sunita Tati in association with Guru Films, Hyderabad. A star cast comprising top Hollywood actors has been promised by the makers, as the film is to be made for US and global audiences. Raakh was ahead of its time in Bollywood. We do hope A Momentary Lapse of Reason works at the international box office.